New Director at the Air Force Geotopographic Information Centre

Wednesday, 18 September, the handover ceremony took place at Pratica di Mare airport between the Colonel Riccardo Di Paola and the Colonel Raffaele Cavaliere at the wheel of Cigarette.
The outgoing Director, Colonel Di Paola, after paying a due and heartfelt tribute to all those who have fallen in the line of duty, who sacrificed themselves for their country, highlighted how it has been a privilege to manage and lead a complex and diverse operational component such as CIGA, “a fundamental enabling centre for modern air operations”. He also remarked on how CIGA is a reality in evolution and continuous capacity growth that encompasses very different sectors, but all of the highest specialization. Merging different specialised areas is not always immediate, but it certainly offers the opportunity to create a mosaic of unique capabilities that are very important in different decisional and operational contexts.
The incoming Director, Colonel Cavaliere, thanked the Air Force leadership for the trust placed in him, assuring maximum commitment. He thanked the previous directors who, over the years, have enabled the men and women of CIGA to achieve their current reputation and capabilities. Addressing the Centre's personnel, he highlighted how aerospace power, of which the Air Force is the custodian, is expressed by drawing on data and information of various kinds: geospatial, navigational, Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance which it generates, through the conduct of operations in these sub-domains, for the benefit of all users. Finally, he wished to reconfirm the importance of the mission entrusted to CIGA, which imposes a further challenge: “to act, responding to change, implementing the new operational capabilities necessary, consolidating those possessed in an epochal phase of generational change”.
In his concluding address, Air Brigadier General Danilo Morando thanked the outgoing Director for his excellent command and the qualities demonstrated, which can be capitalised on in other areas of the Armed Force. Addressing the new Director, he emphasised the ongoing work of reorganisation and technological adaptation of the Centre, which has enabled it in recent years to provide an essential service for air navigation, the constant and punctual geospatial support to crews of the Air Force and other Armed Forces, the enhancement of data and imagery in support of the Alliance, without neglecting the activities of defence of the national community during major events or natural disasters that have marked the life of our country. In conclusion, he turned to the CIGA personnel, reiterating that “The Centre will continue to be a department of excellent quality, fully integrated into the national and international defence system, operating to effectively support the activities of its users both at home and in out-of-area theatres, with the aim of constantly improving their operational capabilities”.

The CIGA is based at the “Mario de Bernardi” Military Airport in Pratica di Mare, Pomezia (Rome) and operates by producing, processing, and disseminating geotopographical and aeronautical information, as well as image data from the Armed Forces' reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition sensors. The Centre is subordinate to the Air Squad Command, through the 9th ISTAR–EW Air Brigade, whose mission is to operate in the fields of intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, and electronic warfare for the Armed Forces' and the Defence's requirements, in national and international contexts.
Many of the cartographic and air navigation aid products published by CIGA in hard copy and digital formats are also available for sale to the public.
The catalogue is available at the link: http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/comunicazione/CIGA/Pagine/default.aspx